Partners in Time
by theimpracticalgirl
Summary: When a young woman enters a contest one summer day to be featured in an episode of her favorite TV show Doctor Who and wins, she gets to go London, her most favorite place in the world, and gets to meet her Doctor, Matt Smith. But what starts out to be a fun experience quickly turns wibbly wobbly! (Revised version of Living the Life.)
1. Chapter 1

_There was no way out. She was trapped._

_They were closing in on her, and she knew that she was in trouble. They advanced on her until they had her backed against the wall._

_They all raised an arm in unison and she cringed, awaiting the blow, but then a roughened hand took her own. She looked up, surprised, finding herself staring into the eyes of a strange man._

_"Run." He whispered the one word, pulling on her arm as he turned to do exactly that. She followed him without hesitation. Down the hall they ran, both pursued by the group. They tried to escape in the elevator, but one stuck its arm between the doors, trying to get in._

_The man struggled with the arm, he was fighting it off, and –_

"_Ashley!"_ The blonde was jerked out of the episode of Doctor Who and was put abruptly back into reality. She muted the television with the remote and looked over at her father.

"Yes? Were you talking to me?" She inquired innocently. The man sighed in exasperation. He was long used to her zoning out while watching her show.

Her whole family, and basically everyone who she talked to, knew about her obsession with the British television show. When her dad had asked her one day after her turning down watching football with him for the newest episode of Doctor Who what exactly made it so amazing, she really had no answer.

"It's…Well, it's cool!" She had laughed at the reference she made and gave her dad a hug before running off to her room.

"I was saying it's time for dinner. Do you want to go out for pizza?" He asked her again. She glanced at the television screen. Rose was just running away from the burning building, past the TARDIS that she didn't know was there. BBC America was airing a rerun of _Rose_, and she was _really_ into the episode…

Oh, well. It wasn't like she didn't already own the complete first series. "Yeah, sure. Where do you want to go?" She turned the television off, standing up and stretching lazily.

"I was thinking Mountain Mike's. Does that sound good?" He turned to search the kitchen counter for his keys.

Ashley paused in her stretching to give his back an unimpressed look. "Dad, I know it's Monday. There's a game on tonight." He looked over his shoulder at her and gave her a crooked grin.

"You got me." He admitted. Her father was such the typical guy. _Pizza and football, indeed. _Shaking her head, she rolled her eyes as she left the living room to go down the hall into her bedroom.

She had to step over her Cocker Spaniel, Ian, to get to her door, but she stopped to crouch down and give his back a good rub. He turned his head to lick her hand, the little stump of his tail wagging ferociously.

With a smile and one last pat, Ashley rose and pushed open her bedroom door, the sign on the handle saying "the Doctor is in" flapping against the wood. Inside the room she grabbed her socks out of her dresser drawer, and she slid her feet into a pair of red Converse high-tops. It took her a moment to find her purse, but she soon realized that her cat, Mickey, was sleeping on top of it on her bed.

"I hate to do this, Kitty." She cooed to him as she scooped him up, cuddling him to her chest. He was still warm and limp from his nap, and he stretched in her arms, kneading his paws on her shoulder. Kissing the top of his head, she set him gently down on the ground, picking her purse up from her bed.

The cat pressed up against her leg, purring up a storm. Ashley pawed through her purse, looking for her phone. _It wasn't in there..? _The girl looked down at her cat, who had settled on the pajama pants she'd left on the floor when she'd been getting ready for school that morning.

"You haven't seen my phone, have you?" She asked the brown mass. He stared up at her with wide green eyes, and she took that as a negative.

"Ashley! I'll be out in the car!" She heard her father call to her.

"I'll be out in a minute!" She called back. Ashley patted her bed, checking to see if it had fallen out of her purse, but it wasn't there. She shrugged, and headed out of her room, looking in the living room and kitchen. _Where had that thing gone off to?_

Ashley's father honked the car horn, letting her know he was ready to go. Ashley grumbled as she searched fruitlessly for the device. As she was looking under the couch cushions, she got an idea and jumped up, grabbing one of the house phones. She dialed her number and waited impatiently as it rang.

She faintly heard the sound of the TARDIS coming from in the kitchen, and Ashley trailed after the sound, finding her phone inside the fridge. Hanging the phone up, her face felt warm. She must have accidentally stuck it in the fridge along with the milk carton after school that day. Hopefully the cold didn't affect it!

Her father honked again at her, and she ran out, turning the lights out and locking the house after her. "What took you so long?" He asked her.

"I left my phone in the fridge." He gave her a funny look.

"Do I want to know?" Ashley giggled at his expression.

"Not really." She replied. He shook his head, and he began to back out of the drive.

At the foot of the driveway, however, he paused. "Actually, grab the rentals. I'm going stop by the movie rental place to drop off the movies." Ashley groaned, and opened her door, sliding out of the car. She jogged up the drive, unlocked the door, and felt around in the dark for the light switch.

Ashley grabbed her father's rentals off of TV stand, and went into her room to grab her own. She paused before leaving again to look around her room.

Her dedication to Doctor Who was quite apparent here. Doctor Who posters hung on her wall. She had soundtracks from the series, and all the complete series sets. She had toys (_replicas_, she insisted) of Sonic Screwdrivers, figurines, a long colorful scarf draped over the back of her desk chair, and she even had tickets from the times when she went to Royal Albert Hall for the Proms featuring Doctor Who with her father framed and hanging above her desk. The quilt on her bed was handmade by her mother, may she rest in peace, and featured the TARDIS, complete with hand-stitched signs.

Her mother...She'd been hit by a car when Ashley was ten. It had been a hard time for her. At first it seemed like her mother might pull through, but on the operation table she suffered a complication and passed away. Ashley's father noticed then that his daughter became even more obsessed with the Doctor after that, maybe as her way of coping.

Her phone rang, the TARDIS sounding off again. Ashley blinked, pulled out of her reverie and she pulled it out and answered it, glancing at caller ID. It was her father.

"Did you get lost?" He asked, his tone joking.

"Hush." She blew a raspberry into the receiver, and hung up, flicking her light off as she headed back out.

_She didn't notice the tall shadow in the corner of the room._


	2. Chapter 2

After their pizza dinner, where Ashley had got into a playful argument with her father at who was better at football, they went to the movie rental. Ashley lost that argument, by the way.

Her father had been quite good at it when he was younger, but had to stop when he had to get his knee replaced. He was still by far more talented at the sport than her though. Honestly, Ashley had trouble running, let alone running while keeping hold of a ball, dodging people who wanted to tackle her to the ground!

She browsed through her favorite isle, seeing if there was anything Doctor Who related she hadn't already rented. She'd already watched the 1996 movie with Paul (which was just _so_ dorky and hilarious)… Her favorite scene in that movie was when he was in the park with his companion. The way he ran in those 'perfect' shoes made her crack up. Just for nostalgia, she picked it up, wanting to rent it again. She went up to the front desk to check it out with her own card, looking around the shop for her dad. He was near the back, looking through the Westerns.

Ashley grinned. He was such the stereotypical American guy. He also liked to barbecue, but fortunately he didn't enjoy golfing.

She looked in the soda fridge for a Dr Pepper (take a guess why it's her favorite soda) when the boy acting as clerk came nervously over to her. "Uh, hey there, Ashley..." He greeted her. She looked up at him, mildly startled.

"Oh! Hey. It's Derek, right?" Derek looked pleased that she remembered his name.

"That's me...Uh, I was wondering if, uh..." His face turned red. Ashley suppressed a smile

"What?" She prompted him.

"Uh, nothing; never mind! I was just going to say...Uh, if you buy a soda and a box of candy; you get a bucket of popcorn free!" He quickly supplied. She finally smiled.

"Cool! One moment, please." She turned around to check the candy rack, trying to cover her pleased expression.

For a while she'd noticed his shy glances at her. Had he been about to ask her out? She giggled. Too bad he lost his nerve. Underneath his glasses and teenage acne, he was rather cute, now that she thought of it. She went over to the checkout counter, and put the soda, a box of Milk Duds, and the 'free' popcorn bucket up on it for him to scan, along with her movie. As he was scanning the bar code on the movie, she spoke up, making him jump slightly.

"You know, you should try something. Put Milk Duds in with your popcorn and let the heat of it melt the chocolate a little. It's super good." Ashley winked.

"Oh? Yeah, I guess I can try that." Derek said shyly.

"Tell me what you think when I come to return the movie, yeah?" He glanced at it in his hand.

"You sure do like Doctor Who." He mused. "You've checked everything related to it out at least twice." She laughed.

"That's me, number one Whovian." He looked confused.

"Number one what?" She titled her head.

"Whovian; it's a term people in the Doctor Who fandom uses to describe the fans." Derek still looked confused.

"Do you have a Tumblr?" She asked him. The boy shook his head, his mousy brown hair falling in his face. She mimicked the Scream painting. "_What!_ You don't have a Tumblr? We must fix that!" He made a face.

"Yeah...I mainly spend time on Runescape." He shrugged.

Ashley laughed. "I guess Runescape is okay…At least it's better than World of Warcraft!" She joked.

"It's not that bad." He said in defense of it. Now it was her turn to shrug.

"Hey, how about this; you give me your number so we can meet at the library, and we can get you set up with a Tumblr blog." Derek's ears turned red.

"Uh, sure, that's a good idea…Here you go." He scribbled his number in the back of her receipt, and shoved it in the bag with her stuff. Ashley's father came up behind her, setting his Western on the counter.

"Are you all ready to go?" He asked her. His daughter beamed up at him.

"All set!" She said. "I'll wait in the car." He nodded, a bit distracted as he felt around his person for his wallet. Ashley waved to Derek when she went out. "I'll text you later!" She said cheerfully. He waved back at her shyly as he scanned her father's movie.

Out in the car, Ashley sat in her seat before squealing happily, kicking her feet out. Had she actually done that? She, Whovian Ashley, just asked a boy for his number, and just nearly asked him out on a date! What was wrong with her?

She grinned at herself in the sunshade mirror rather cheekily. "He didn't stand a chance." She teased herself. Her smile faded after a moment though, as she began to wonder. What did Derek like in her?

Certainly not how she looked. There were so many more pretty girls in school. She was rather plain. She wasn't thin, she was actually rather...Well, she called herself perfectly plump, but she had curves! Maybe that was it? She also, not modestly, admitted that she had a bust. Nora liked to tease her about getting implants. "I did not!" Ashley would protest. Her hair was kind of a honey blonde, and hung straight down to her shoulders, and her smile wasn't stunning, but rather awkward.

Ashley thought that she, well, she just looked like herself. She shrugged. Maybe that's what he liked. Could he like just plain old her? Was that even _possible_?

Her father got in the car. "Well, let's get home. I found a new movie I want to watch. What's all that?" He asked, gesturing at her bag.

"Oh! Derek said if I got a soda and candy I could get a free tub of popcorn." He smiled.

"Derek is the boy inside?" She nodded. "Well, that's nice." He said, taking them home.

"Yeah...Sometime soon I'm going to meet him at the library, and I'm going to convert another to the dark side." He chuckled.

"What does that mean? Do you guys have cookies or something?"Ashley wrinkled her nose.

"No! I'm just getting him set up on Tumblr." He nodded.

"I see... Oh, the wonders of Tumblr. I still remember when you found the Shia LeBeouf song. Boy; that was _creepy_." He pretended to shudder. She smiled at him. Her father was silly. "What did you get?" He asked her.

"I'm renting the 1996 movie with Paul in it again." Ashley said, showing him the DVD when they stopped at a red light.

"Doctor Who _again_? Why do you even bother renting them when you've got the movies memorized?" He mock sighed. She grinned.

"It's fun to say the lines with the actors in the movie." He shook his head in exasperation at his daughter.

They got home, and Ashley put her soda in the fridge, and the popcorn and candy into the cupboard. Her father went into the back to take a shower, and Ashley went into her room to stretch out on her bed. She lazily scrolled down her Dashboard on Tumblr, Liking a Matt Smith appreciation post.

Eventually she began to yawn, and she tiredly kicked her jeans and shoes off onto the floor, going to sleep in her shirt.

_The shadow was still there, almost seeing to be watching the girl's still form, and then it was gone._


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Ashley was woken up by her phone. Nora, her best friend, had sent her a text asking where she was. Wasn't she coming to school? Sleepily she checked the time. 7:27! She was going to be late for school! Her father had long since been gone at work. He left at 5:45…

Hurriedly she flung herself out of bed and changed out of the clothes she'd fallen asleep in, throwing on a fresh outfit, and shoving her feet into her Converse as she ran into the kitchen.

She pulled a microwave breakfast sandwich from the fridge, put it into the microwave, and while that was going she yanked a brush through her hair. It was all frizzy, and, gross! It was oily. A ponytail would have to do.

Her school bag was waiting for her by the couch, and as she passed it on the way to the bathroom to brush her teeth, she snagged it and put it over her shoulder. She brushed up a minty froth in record time, spat, and made it out as the microwave beeped, indicating that her food was ready.

Ashley took it out, blowing on her fingers as she wrapped the sandwich into a paper towel, and left the house, locking the door behind her. Then the girl crossed to the garage, taking huge scalding bites out of her sandwich, unlocked the side door, and wheeled her bike out. Making sure the door was locked again, she threw her leg over the bike, finished her sandwich in two large bites, and choked it down as she went down to the curb to throw the towel away.

She was off! The wheels of her bike flew round and round as she pedaled to school. Luckily her school was fairly close…She made it to the bike rack just as the first bell rang. Nora was waiting by the gate.

"You've crumbs on your face." The other girl commented. "Were you eating your toast, dangling from your mouth, as you ran to school so you wouldn't be late? Hoping that today is the day that senpai will notice you?" Ashley gave her friend her _look_ as she chained her bike to the rack.

"Do I _look_ like a Japanese schoolgirl?" She asked as they walked to their first period. Nora pretended to consider it a moment too long, and Ashley gave her arm a light punch.

"Not really. You're a bit too busty for those uniforms." Ashley sighed and shook her head in exasperation. She honestly could not understand the culture associated with anime and manga and Nora's obsession with it.

Ashley just loved Nora; they were like sisters. They'd befriended each other in the third grade after Nora dropped her cupcake during a class birthday. Ashley had given Nora her cupcake and did a ridiculous thing by picking up the fallen cupcake, wiping the frosting off, and then eating the cake. "Gross!" Nora had giggled.

"What?" Ashley had asked, grinning. "Thirty second rule." Nora had grinned back.

"You made that up; it's ten seconds!" Ashley had laughed with her new friend.

"I'm glad you made it to school on time. Mr. Reiss looks like he is going to assign everyone Saturday school." Nora informed her. Ashley grimaced. She wasn't exactly on the good side of her Economics teacher as it was with her C grade, so she was especially glad she didn't do anything else to piss him off.

"What can I say?" Ashley joked. "I'm never late. Everyone else is simply early."

The rest of the day passed smoothly. Her Economics teacher had even seemed to calm down halfway through the period. After school she met Nora in the courtyard of her school, along with a few of her other school friends. "Hey, Ashley." Her friend David, whom she talked to during PE, said, gaining her attention as he walked up to her with his elder brother, Kris. She looked over at him and gave him a signature Ashley grin.

"'sup, David. What's the stitch?" He had to grin back at her.

"So, I hear it's your birthday in, what, four weeks?" He inquired. The blonde nodded.

"Yup. The big Sweet 16." She wrinkled her nose. "Soon I'll need a walker." Nora bumped her best friend playfully.

"Hardly." She rolled her eyes at Ashley.

"Anyway…" Kris, David's brother, chuckled. "We were wondering what you were up to? See if we could hang out and steal some of your pizza, yeah?" Ashley laughed.

"Is that all you two think about? Food?" She teased them. The brothers' girlfriends, who had joined them shortly after they'd walked up, laughed as well.

"You have no idea." The girlfriend of Kris said. Her name was Sasha, or something like that. Maybe it was Sarah... "He ate a whole large pizza by himself the last time he came over. I can only imagine what David puts away." Kris pulled her over and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"You make it sound like that's a bad thing, babe." He teased. The group laughed, but Ashley got a funny feeling inside of her chest. Would Derek and she possibly be like that one day..? She blinked, and focused on the moment.

"I dunno yet." She said with a half-shrug, grinning easily. "I'm either going to have a party at the roller rink, or a barbecue at the lake and then head home." She shrugged again.

Nora pursed her lips. "Roller skating is alright, but I know for a fact that Charlie can't skate for his life." Charlie was Ashley's best guy friend. The group laughed at his expense, but he didn't appear to really care.

"I personally think a barbecue is cool." He said.

"Cool like bowties?" Ashley teased. Nora bumped her again, and she chuckled, relenting. "Yeah, I guess I can do that…" They talked for a bit longer, and then, when Ashley checked her phone's time and realized she should start heading home, they dispersed. Nora and Ashley walked together to the bike rack.

"So." Nora said after a moment. Ashley looked over, arching an eyebrow in question, but didn't speak other than making an inquisitive noise. "...You know how you somewhat like Doctor Who?" Ashley scoffed.

"That is a major understatement." She interrupted.

"Yeah, well, I know that. Anyway, I was snooping around online for your birthday present…"

"Nora, I've told you, I keep telling you; I don't want you to get me a gift! You always get me some ridiculously expensive gift and then I feel horrible." Ashley complained.

"Oh, hush. I like to splurge on my best friend, alright?" Nora gave her an unimpressed look.

"Whatever…What did you find?" Ashley asked as she took the key for her bike lock from her pocket.

"You won't guess in a million years." Nora giggled, excited.

"Of course I won't if you don't tell me!" Ashley retorted with a slight frown, focusing on unlocking the bike and winding the chain up to put into her bag.

"Just take one guess."

Ashley was silent for a moment, throwing a leg over her bike and putting her helmet on. "It's related to Doctor Who?" She finally ventured. Nora sighed in exasperation.

"No duh."

Ashley paused to consider, fiddling absently with the bell on her handlebar.

"You...Found a fez signed by Matt Smith." Ashley didn't mean that, but of course it'd be cool if she had!

"It's even better." Nora was beaming like she could hardly hold it in.

"Get on with it!" There was a pause, and then Nora shook her head.

"I won't tell you here. I'll send you the link on Tumblr as soon as I get home, okay?" Ashley sighed.

"I suppose…"

The two embraced, and Ashley set off home at a more leisurely pace than that morning. Her father's car was in the drive, and Ashley first locked her bike in the garage before going inside. "Hey, Dad! You're home early." She called into the house, dumping her bag on the kitchen table as she went to grab her customary after-school glass of milk. She was already halfway through the glass when she realized she hadn't heard an answer.

"Dad?" She called again, this time a bit more hesitantly. The only response she got was a bark from Ian from somewhere in the house.

The dog was lying by her father's office door. The door was closed, and the light was on. Ian whined, and scratched at the door. Frowning, Ashley reached out to open the door.

_"Dad..?"_


End file.
